ROADS TO ST. MAEYS LOCH. 117 



may follow the road np to the source of the Little Yar- 

 row, above Birkhill, and thence striking across the hills 

 in a westerly direction, he will easily come upon it. It 

 contains very fine trout — although their taking is not 

 always to be relied upon. 



There are a number of roads to Yarrow and St. 

 Mary's Loch, most of which have been already in- 

 cidentally referred to. The angler may most readily 

 reach the river itself by Selkirk, which is the terminus 

 of a line of railway that branches from the Edinburgh 

 and Hawick at Galashiels. Selkirk is sixteen miles 

 from St. Mary's Loch, there being a good road up the 

 vale of Yarrow the whole way ; and a few hours' plea- 

 sant walking, with intervals of a little angling, will 

 bring the angler who has left Edinburgh by the morn- 

 ing train to Tibbie Shiels' with time left for a cast in 

 the loch before the gloaming. Anglers, now-a-days, 

 however, usually prefer driving, and there are of course 

 all kinds of conveyances to be had at Selkirk. We have 

 already noticed the road from Peebles, up the Manor 

 and down the Meggat, solely for pedestrians and eques- 

 trians, and from Innerleithen, up the Quair and down 

 Mount-Benger-burn. From Hawick, the road by Tushi- 

 law is continued up Tushilaw-burn and down by Al- 

 trieve to meet the road from Innerleithen at the bridge 

 below Mount-Benger, while a bridle-road leaves the 

 vale of Ettrick a mile or two further up, and descends 

 on the other side of the hills directly upon the head of 

 St. Mary's Loch. From the west, a good road from 

 Mofi'at, which is two miles from the Beattock station of 

 the Caledonian Kailway, runs up the vale of Moffat and 

 down Little Yarrow to Tibbie's — a distance of fifteen 



